Home Office

Electronic Warfare

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the proceeds of crime generated by cyber attacks by hostile states utilising ransom demands; and what steps they are taking to prevent such crime.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: During 2021, ransomware became the most significant cyber threat facing the UK. In response, in June the Home Office launched a cross-government policy sprint to accelerate our response to this growing threat. The sprint has engaged in three pillars of activity aligning to the wider SOC strategy pillars (prepare, prevent, protect and pursue): threat, resilience, and international. Underreporting continues to impact our ability to understand the true cost and scale of cybercrime to the UK, an aspect we are actively trying to improve. Tackling cyber crime, including ransomware, is at the heart of the UK government’s new National Cyber Security. The strategy was launched in December 2021 and presents the UK’s role as a responsible and democratic cyber power, protecting and promoting UK interests in, and through, cyberspace. The strategy commits £2.6bn of new investment to deliver objectives under five strategic pillars: Ecosystem; Resilience; Technology; International; and Threat. HMG continues its work with global partners to detect and disrupt shared threats emanating from overseas, the most consistent of these from ransomware criminals based in Russia. In December 2021, the UK held a G7 Senior Officials’ Forum on Ransomware to combat the threat, and the UK is taking a leading role in the international Counter Ransomware Initiative. Further information on the impacts and actions to combat cyber crime can be found in the National Cyber Security Centre Annual Review 2021, on ncsc.gov.uk.

Hate Crime

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to require (1) web hosting services, (2) technology companies, and (3) non-UK based service providers such as Cloudflare, to do more to identify and remove hateful content in order to protect the public; and whether they believe 'incel' content constitutes terrorism.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: Our objective is to ensure that there are no safe spaces online for all forms of terrorists to promote or share their extreme views. To tackle terrorism online, the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit refers illegal terrorist content to tech companies for removal. Within the Home Office, we encourage tech companies to work together as one coordinated body through the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism to reduce the availability of terrorist content online.We have also published the draft Online Safety Bill, which gives effect to the regulatory framework outlined in the Full Government Response to the Online Harms White Paper. The Joint Committee for pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Bill published its report on 14th December, and we will prioritise introduction of the Bill once we have carefully considered the Committee’s recommendations.We want the internet to be a safe space for all users - we are clear that what is unacceptable offline should be unacceptable online. However, we recognise the complexities in adapting our approach against an ever-changing technological landscape. We have committed to publishing a new Hate Crime Strategy, building on our achievements under the 2016-2020 Hate Crime Action Plan, which improved the response to all forms of hate crime, including online.Whether or not online content relates to an offence contrary to terrorism legislation is a matter for the police to investigate and will be determined by the facts of each case. The Government is however clear that the definition of terrorism within the Terrorism Act 2000 remains fit for purpose and capable of responding to modern forms of terrorism. Serious violence or the threat of serious violence for the purpose of advancing an ideological cause, including where this is inspired by incel beliefs, is capable of satisfying the definition of terrorism. This is a position supported by the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Electricity Generation

Lord Birt: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the additional electric power that will be needed by 2030 if their targets for (1) electric vehicles, and (2) heat pumps, are met.

Lord Callanan: The Government’s Net Zero Strategy sets out how electricity generation by 2030 might need to increase by around 50TWh (or 16%) compared to 2019 levels to meet growing demand, including from electric vehicles and heat pumps.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Land Mines: Bomb Disposal

Baroness Goudie: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of reductions to mine clearance funding.

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: Since 2018, under the second iteration of the Global Mine Action Programme (GMAP2), the UK has been one of the most generous countries in the world in funding demining. By the end of financial year 2020/21, GMAP2 had invested £124 million in mine action activities, with at least £17 million more to be spent in this financial year. Under GMAP2 the UK has cleared and confirmed safe 435.2 million square metres of land, the equivalent of over 60,952 football pitches, and has delivered risk education messages to over 3.7 million people in communities affected by mines.The FCDO remains committed to continuing its support to mine action across the globe. The Global Mine Action Programme 3 (GMAP3) is due to begin in financial year 2022/23. We are working towards finalising funding and country allocations and will share plans as soon as this work is complete.

Cabinet Office

Homicide: Young People

Lord Field of Birkenhead: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the latest available data on youth deaths by stabbing in (1) London, (2) Birmingham, (3) Coventry, (4) Liverpool, (5) Manchester, and (6) Newcastle, for each of the last five years.

Lord True: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have, therefore, asked the Authority to respond.Professor Sir Ian Diamond | National Statistician The Rt Hon. the Lord Field of Birkenhead CH DLHouse of LordsLondonSW1A 0PW27 January 2022 Dear Lord Field, As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what are the latest available data on youth deaths by stabbing in London, Birmingham, Coventry, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle in each of the last five years (HL5661). The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes homicide figures where the method of killing was by a knife or sharp instrument sourced from the Home Office Homicide Index, which is a database separate from the main police recorded crime dataset. It contains detailed record-level information about each homicide recorded by the police in England and Wales. It is continually updated with revised information from the police and courts and, as such, is a richer source of data than the main police recorded crime dataset. We do not hold data on homicide by knife or sharp instrument by age below the national level. However, we have provided the estimates for the previous five years for England and Wales in Table 1. These data were published alongside Homicide in England and Wales, year ending March 2020 (1). This article will be updated on 10 February 2022 to include data for the year ending March 2021. Yours sincerely,   Professor Sir Ian Diamond Table 1: Offences (2) currently recorded as homicide (3) by a sharp instrument, by age (4), year ending March 2016 to year ending March 2020   Apr' 15 to Mar' 16Apr' 16 to Mar' 17Apr' 17 to Mar' 18Apr' 18 to Mar' 19Apr' 19 to Mar' 20 Number of victims Total212216281260275Under 1696671016-17111014171318-243851816178  Source: Home Office-Homicide Index (1) https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/homicideinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2020(2) As at 15 December 2020; figures are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information becomes available.(3) Home Office statisticians and Police Forces have undertaken a review of all historical homicide data to update court outcomes and suspect data, this means totals shown in this table will not match previously published figures.(4) The age categories that have been used in this table are supplied by the Home Office.UKSA Response to PQHL5661 (pdf, 122.6KB)

Civil Servants: Recruitment

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to close the acceptance gap between white students and ethnic minority students who join the Civil Service Fast Stream.

Lord True: The proportion of ethnic minority groups overall being appointed to the Civil Service Fast Stream in 2021 was 23.3%, this aligns with the 2019/20 Higher Education Statistics Agency graduate population level of 23.7% for ethnicity. Steps to ensure that students from minority ethnic backgrounds are successful in their application to the Civil Service Fast Stream start with outreach, attraction and marketing activity, which is designed to encourage applications from individuals from all backgrounds and locations. This is undertaken via early stage schools, college and apprenticeship engagement, along with industrial and internship placements. We have developed an inclusive website, social media strategy, and refreshed the target university list for outreach. Further to this, the Cabinet Office is:expanding the range of internships we offer,undertaking cultural bias reviews of our selection processes,increasing assessor diversity, andimproving our fair and inclusive selection processes by incorporating more regional/virtual assessment.

Public Sector: Food

Lord Oates: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend Cabinet Office Public Procurement Note (PPN) 6/21 reporting so that (1) public sector suppliers report on their food waste, and (2) they encourage the private sector to adopt this approach.

Lord True: In the Resources and Waste Strategy, the government committed to consult on introducing mandatory reporting of food waste by certain businesses of an appropriate size. This builds on a voluntary approach to measuring food waste set out in WRAP delivered Food Waste Reduction Roadmap. A consultation on this will be launched in 2022 alongside the Food Strategy White Paper.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Public Footpaths: Rights of Way

Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the negative consequences for the existing public rights of way network arising from ending the cross-compliance requirement that recipients of Direct Payments keep paths open and accessible.

Lord Benyon: Clear arrangements are already in place through the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 to allow for the establishment, recording and appeal of rights of way to agreed standards, and local authorities have responsibility for their maintenance. Local authorities will continue to receive funding through the Revenue Support Grant for their various rights of way duties.We will continue to pay for access and engagement through our existing environmental land management schemes and we will consider how to maintain investment in these areas as part of future schemes. Our ongoing commitment is visible through other funds and activities including through the Nature for Climate Fund, the Green Recovery Challenge Fund, our Farming in Protected Landscapes scheme and through Countryside Stewardship.Alongside this ongoing support, as we continue to develop our new schemes throughout the transition and into the future, contact is being maintained with a range of stakeholders that represent a variety of interests including access, as well as with end users to determine the specific land management actions that will be paid for under our new schemes.